LEBANON - Former Harveysburg administrator Kimble Grant stole more than twice as much from the village as authorities first thought.

        Appearing in a Warren County courtroom on Friday, Mr. Grant, 45, pleaded guilty to theft in office and promised to pay back $11,520.26 that he stole from October 1998 through January 2000 by charging personal items on Harveysburg credit cards and writing village checks for his own use.

        The plea agreement was reached after an extensive investigation by the sheriff's office uncovered another $6,734.50 in checks that Mr. Grant wrote to himself.

        Authorities were getting ready to charge Mr. Grant with more crimes when he agreed to a plea bargain, Assistant Prosecutor Keith Anderson said.

        Mr. Grant faces up to 18 months in prison when he is sentenced on the felony charge in about 30 days.

        The agreement calls for no further charges to be filed against Mr. Grant if he reimburses the village by the sentencing date, which has not yet been set.

        “It's his intention to pay this off well in advance,” said his attorney, David Ernst.

        A Warren County grand jury indicted Mr. Grant in January on the single charge after a state audit determined that he improperly spent the village's money, racking up charges at Staples, Lowes and Sam's Club, writing checks to himself and paying for personal computer leases with village funds.

        Mr. Anderson said Mr. Grant took additional money from a water and sewer hookup that never occurred and paid his gas and electric bill with a village check when the utility service to his home risked disconnection.

        Mr. Grant was unavailable for comment after Friday's hearing. He earlier told the Enquirer that he did not deliberately steal from the village. He said he did not understand financial procedures for government, and that he thought he was making charges to his own credit cards and used the village's charge accounts by mistake.

        Village officials could not be reached.

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